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Do you want to be a bestselling author? (Probably not…) Part Deux

~~~ Notes from Minnesota ~~~

Hey Freelancer!

Oy. It’s been a heck of a week!

I ran off to Austin, Texas for a conference. ‘Twas fun. Glad to get home. Hit a snag when I hit Minnesota, though.

My writing partner, the brains of this operation, Rudie (the doxie cross) stopped eating! Turns out, she’s wasn’t real fond of my absence. Not a huge surprise since we’ve hung out 24/7 for the last decade… But the whole not eating part? That was new.

Three vet clinic visits later, I got her to finally chow down a couple chicken treats. Up until this morning, I’ve had the pleasure of poking goo covered pills down her wide gullet. Don’t get me started on the crazy syringe feeding ritual…

As much as I hate to admit it, turns out I rather love that little pup. Crossing my fingers all is well, not sure how I’d write in an empty office!

But she ate. That was huge. Crossing my fingers she keeps it up…

Enough from the office. Let’s get going on the interesting stuff. Remember last time when I challenged the notion of Amazon Bestseller Status? I expand a bit on that today.

Onward and upward!

Beth 🙂

P.S. If you have any author friends pondering getting into some of these programs promising acquiring huge crowds of readers fairly fast, please pass on this information. I rarely send out warnings like this, but wowzers… my heart breaks when I see newbie writers forking over hundreds of dollars based on promises that are somewhat outside the realm of reality. Thanks. 🙂

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Should You Shoot to Become a Bestseller? (Probably Not.) Part Deux

Last time we discussed whether it was worth your time to acquire the label of “Amazon Best Seller.”

Turns out it’s not as glamorous as you’d think.

Today I’m going to give you another example illustrating why best seller status doesn’t mean much. Here we go:

Brent Underwood writes for The Observer. In 2016, he created an Amazon bestseller, earning the coveted orange banner.

One problem: his book was fake. It consisted of photographs of his foot. That’s basically it. He loaded the graphics into his Kindle account, carefully selected the categories, then proceeded to sell three copies.

Boom. Amazon bestseller in his category.

The story behind the story is particularly interesting. Underwood embarked on this project because he was frustrated at all the phony authors, get rich quick schemers, and hacks uploading less than quality projects into Amazon’s KDP platform.

I love his takeaway:

“I hope my story illustrates that the best marketing tactic you can use for a book is to write a great book that actually sells over the long term. It’s easy to be seduced by best-seller lists, sales numbers, speaking fees, and all the ephemera in this industry. Don’t let all of that make you lose sight of the importance of quality and authority in your work. Anyone can be a one-hit wonder; focus on crafting a book that will sell for decades.” Source

Hmmm… interesting point, eh?

So yeah. Do your best work. Think long term. Ignore the breathless (so called) gold rush around you and focus on your Polaris… the reason why you chose this crazy profession. This tactic sounds much easier if you ask me…

Next time: How to create a workhorse title that’ll never be a best seller, but can help achieve your goals… and help you maintain your sanity.

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You can use any of these articles free of charge on your own website or zine. Just don’t make any changes and be sure to include this byline:

This article is courtesy of Filbert Publishing. Make your writing sparkle, write killer queries, get published. Subscribe to Writing Etc., the free e-mag for freelancers and receive the e-book “Power Queries.” http://filbertpublishing.com

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